New rules are to be introduced at a popular free campsite in WA’s south following what has been described as a surge of people overstaying there.
The Shire of Murray has just voted to lengthen the time between stays for campers at Pinjarra’s sole free camping site, and to permanently ban those caught staying too long.
The Mandurah Times reports that campers using the site just outside the town’s centre on Pinjarra-Williams Road can stay currently stay for only 24 hours, and must leave for at least five nights before coming back. However, the changes passed on April 18 will extend this to 28 days.
And the shire will also hold a ‘holistic review’ to address increased illegal RV and camping use within its boundaries.
Free camps across the country are busier than ever. PIC: CIzza
Murray chief executive, Dean Unsworth, told the paper that demand was ‘certainly outstripping the supply’, and some repeat campers were returning within the allowed five days.
“It’s a really popular spot, and we’ve only got 15 places there, so what’s happening is people are coming back quickly, or some of them are staying there quite a few days at a time,” he said. “And what that does is just stop others from getting a chance … we just want to have it so it’s a more fair system.”
Mr Unsworth said the council was just trying to put ‘a line in the sand’ to say the rule is 28 days and, after 28 days, visitors would be welcomed back.
“We’re not trying to say we’re not an RV-friendly town,” he told the Mandurah Times. “We want a number of people to come and experience it because it really does get crowded … especially at weekends; you can’t get in.”
Changes to the shire’s RV policy will also give the shire the power to permanently ban people who overstay 24 hours, or return within the 28-day away period.
The Mandurah Times reports that, as part of the changes, people using the site will also not be allowed to hang clothes to dry. Rubbish must be removed and the site ‘left in a clean and tidy state’ before they leave.
Mr Unsworth said it was evident some people camping at the Pinjarra location were experiencing homelessness, which he said other councils had also reported at their free sites.
The Mandurah Times reports that councils across the state have been attempting a range of solutions to the issue, with the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River this week also set to consider forming a project team to crack down on unlawful campers.
As with many other free camps around the country, demand for the Pinjarra site – which opened in in 2011 – has surged since the pandemic.
The shire has allocated $40,000 to redevelop the site, described by Mr Unsworth as a ‘visual eyesore’ and ‘dustbowl’. The area will be levelled and gravelled, with RV bays marked out, and new signage erected.
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What !not allowed to hang your clothes to dry,who the hell are you the Gestapo!! outrageous ,what about cleanliness….bloody clowns
Yes, it is a problem but, I guess, they want you to use the Town’s Laundromats.
The over stayers should be fined as well as banned.
Well done to the Shire.
No-one wants to see free camping areas looking like a laundry.
On a Tassie trip we saw residents living in beautiful waterfront homes with ocean views looking at long washing lines full of cloths across the other side of the road on the foreshore free camp.
Not a pretty sight.
So just increase capacity or number of sites. I see a Caravan Park agenda in all this. article elsewhere celebrates Park occupancy!! how much do they want?
And increase the problem…
They gotta be kidding , they don’t want to be known as a RV unfriendly town but you can only stay for 24 hours then piss off for 28 days before returning , now then what can I do in 24 hours ? Oh I know go into town and spend some money on some supplies
Yes it is a shame that there are those that do not adhere to the Signage of how long one can stay & how long B4 one can return. also the problem of Rubbish being left behind by some Free Campers is disgraceful, and a Blight on our Society. Either they are simply DAM LAZY, or simply just RUDE& Ignorant. It is a Problem not just in W.A. Free Camps, but is evident all over Australia, and has been for many Years, even B4 the increase in Caravan Travellers, even B4 the COVID Pandemic. I certainly do not know the answer, other than the Authorities making more regular Patrols and hopefully catch the culprits in the Act, so as to take Legal Action via the Courts System.
Cheers Robert S
as they said some are homeless and have no where to stay except free camps how about setting a place where these people can stay until they find a place.
No one wants to live in a tent with kids forever.
it,s not hard to dig a hole for a long drop.
and if a camper tries to go there kick them out
Pinjarra is one of those towns that really needs a bypass road.. This would take away the congestion of the traffic trying to cross over the river on a skinny two lane bridge that also caters for big trucks. And then you are in the town.. Reduced speed signs,cross walks and a set of traffic lights. All within a hundred yards.. From memory the freecamp or overnight stay location was alongside the railway line on the other side of the river past the pub… A stopover time of forty eight hours would be better .. But maybe the local caravan park would feel put out through the loss of revenue.
The approach by the Shire of Murray is just typical of that corner of the country. Nothing has changed in decades. If they simply accepted that there is a legitimate need for free camps & that providing them can be a win win situation, instead of being so restrictive & choosing to frame folk who don’t adhere to their overly restrictive & caravan park funnelling rules they might one day get past living up to their negative reputation. It really is quite simple – just provide more free camps/free camping spaces, & stop trying to pretend they are RV Friendly when that is not the case. As for homeless folk using the free camps – that is part of the reason for the need for free camps. If the shire of Murray feels it is somehow ‘above’ any such responsibility then this appears, to me, to be both selfish & naive. “Pushing the problem’ elsewhere is both irresponsible & unfair. What makes this shire think it’s so special.